Strategies to speed up my 5K?

Brenda_1965

I have been running my 5 k in 36-40 minutes. I ran it in 34 with a friend pushing my butt beside me 3 weeks ago in a team triathlon (near the end I peed my pants :blushing: by the way because I had NO energy left to control my bladder, and she kept looking back at me - I love that girl! Fortunately my shorts were dark so no one noticed.).

Do I do sprints? Do I run/ walk? Do I run further? I had been running 4 miles before the first race. I have one coming up in October.

bahacca

Speed work. do one day of sprints, or just do 1 mile as fast as possible. If you do not already do it, you may want to start weight training on your legs, glutes.

scottb81

How long have you been running and how much do you run every week?

The best way to get faster is to run lots of miles aerobically to increase your aerobic capacity and to run around 5 to 10% of your weekly mileage in tempo runs and speed training.  If you are doing that then it just takes time.

This is a good read that explains it well.  http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/pdfs/al_training_eng.pdf

wolfgate

You said you ran 4 miles before, but how often and for how long? As a realtively novice runner, more miles will have the biggest impact to reducing your times. Both more per week and more in the bank from longevity. You don't need speedwork yet to reduce time from a physiological standpoint, but if you want to do some (because it's fun and does help you get a feel for pacing) go ahead - as long as the speedwork isn't keeping you from running miles.

Brenda_1965

I've been running 8 weeks, and I'm 47. I run every day, except one day I bike or swim. I run a total of about 26 miles per week. Maybe I will run 4 now and sprint this evening.

wolfgate

are you doing right around 4 miles each of the 6 days to get to your 26? If so, consider adding distance to a couple of the runs each week. Do so slowly. Perhaps build one run up to 7 miles over a period of a couple of months. If you want to keep weekly time running the same, drop a couple of your runs down to 3 miles to compensate. Maybe add a faster run one of the shorter days.

At 8 weeks running your body is just starting to adapt. Even if you change nothing you'll get faster - but doing more miles will get you faster quicker (as long as you are conservative and don't overtrain or injure)

Edited to add - at 8 weeks running, a faster run does not mean a sprint!

hajjcomb

I'd be wary of doing speedwork too early- it is not for new runners. I think, like others have said, you will get the biggest gains from just running more- you have to build up your body for running, not just aerobically, but also the connective tissue, bones, and muscle.

I've been there. A few years ago when I started running 5k's my times were in the low to mid 30's. My PR is 28 now, and I'm looking to break 26 in October. I didn't get faster from speedwork, I got faster from running more, strength training, and losing weight. I only recently started in SOME speedwork.

Good luck. Be patient- doing too much too soon is a recipe for injury with running.

wolfgate

Expanding on that a bit. A good introduction to speedwork is fartleks (and it's fun to say!) Means speed play. On one run a week, pick an object somewhere ahead of you = 50 feet, 100 feet, 100 yards, whatever - and pick up the pace to a comfortably hard tempo and run to it. Slow down until you feel recovered, and pick another object. Repeat. Do it until you decide you're done. Simple and effective introduction

On another day add strides to the end of your run. For about 10 seconds don't sprint, but run just slower thanas fast as you can while still being relaxed. Think "relaxed" over speed. Start doing that 3 times and build to about 8 over weeks.

I'd try those for 2-3 months and then, if you wish, look for a more structured tempo and interval workout. You may find you're happy with those for a while. Truth is, as I said before, just getting miles in the bank is the biggest thing for improving a novice 5k time. These are more for fun and to get your body an introduction without too much stress.

Brenda_1965

To me, a sprint is about .1 miles as fast as I can. I ran track and hurdles on high school.

Brenda_1965

THANK YOU EVERYONE! I'm going for my longer run now! Please add me!

scottb81

Up to 26 miles per week after 8 weeks is great. Keep doing that alone and you will get faster with time. Since you are running 6 days a week be sure to pay attention if something starts to hurt. Better to take a couple of days off than ignore something and end up having to take a month off. (speaking as one who ignored the pain that ended with a stress fracture)

Also, as was said above, working one of your runs during the week up to a longer distance will help a lot. Build it gradually but aim for one run per week in the 90 min to 2 hr range. Pace isn't particularly important on that run; just time on feet. It is a major stimulus for aerobic capacity adaptations.

MMark2012

I am a runner who started racing 5K's a couple of years ago. It is good to alternate the amount of miles you run each day. You say that you run 6 days a week. I believe it would benefit you to run more every other day of running. You can experiment on the exact miles you will run. And like a previous post today, you can include sprints of 1 mile or more on 1 or 2 of your running days.
For me, I go into each 5K with a "plan" for each section. Racing is more of a head game when a person is already fit, and a runner. For expample, during my 2nd 5K, I got cramps in my thighs at the beginning of the race(I was going very fast because I got caught up with the rest of the runners). So for that race I did not stick with my plan, and had to compensate the majority of the race with fatigued thighs.

wolfgate

To me, a sprint is about .1 miles as fast as I can. I ran track and hurdles on high school.

Excellent! You've got some good training background then. The 5k, as you intuitively understand with your background, is an entirely different animal than track sprints. You don't need to ever do an all out sprint in workouts to improve the 5k.

Have fun! I'm looking forward to reading about your success going forward.

lunglady

1. Interval training
2. Tempo runs
3. Strength training
4. Rest days (a necessary evil)

LorinaLynn

You've only been running 8 weeks, then running a 36 minute 5k is great!

I personally wouldn't recommend running every day, but I'm a bit of a chickenpoop after being on the bench several weeks with a stress fracture last winter. Plus, I can run pretty fast, but I wouldn't have the energy to do that if I ran every day. I need rest... and cross training.

I'd switch to running every other day, and varying your distance and type of running. I typically run 3x a week and have one shorter faster day of at least 3 miles, one medium length hilly day, sometimes with trails, which I LOVE, and one longer, slower day of at least 6 miles. But that's something I had to build up to, and when I'd only been running 2 months or so, I was running maybe 2.5 to 3 miles every other day.

wolfgate

I am a runner who started racing 5K's a couple of years ago. It is good to alternate the amount of miles you run each day. You say that you run 6 days a week. I believe it would benefit you to run more every other day of running. You can experiment on the exact miles you will run. And like a previous post today, you can include sprints of 1 mile or more on 1 or 2 of your running days.
For me, I go into each 5K with a "plan" for each section. Racing is more of a head game when a person is already fit, and a runner. For expample, during my 2nd 5K, I got cramps in my thighs at the beginning of the race(I was going very fast because I got caught up with the rest of the runners). So for that race I did not stick with my plan, and had to compensate the majority of the race with fatigued thighs.

Ouch! But that's how we gain wisdom, isn't it? In my 5k today, I though I was pacing very well, until I got to the top of a long hill that ended at the start of the third mile. By then I realized I'd lost concentration and drove up the hill too hard. I still won my AG, but it wasn't a fun last mile at all. But I learned another lesson.

Moxylein

bump for later. I really need to speed up, too

kmsairam

I am no expert, but I used to run back in the day. I would suggest interval training and adding a long run once a week. For intervals, you can do 2 minutes of walking or slow jogging and then 1 minute of running very fast (not an all out sprint, which will be hard to do for one minute). Do that for 15-20 minutes. Oryou can go to the track and sprint 100 meters, jog 300 meters (totaling 1 lap); and do that for 15-20 minutes.

Brenda_1965

Ok. I'm home from my run. I went 4 miles. I ran the 3.2 without stopping. I walked .3 and ran .3' walked .1 and ran my hardest the last .1. Is there any harm in walking? Or is it good to do this? The crazy thing is that my total time was 40 minutes, which is what I ran the 5k in yesterday. Go figure.

ixap

This is a good read that explains it well.  http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/pdfs/al_training_eng.pdf

I think that PDF has the absolute best advice there is for running.

If you've been running for 8 weeks, I would say just spend the next several months slowly (slowly!!) increasing your weekly mileage. Your 5K times will improve.

czmmom

You are doing great... what really helped my 5k times was adding distance to one of my runs a week. Once I was up to 8-9 miles, my 5k time improved a lot.

ixap

Is there any harm in walking? Or is it good to do this?

It's good to do it as you increase the length of your long run, if you can't otherwise run that distance. Sounds like you paced yourself appropriately if you were able to speed up for the last half instead of being worn out and slowing down. Good job.

Just use some caution in adding in those miles. You will likely have the energy to add lots of miles, but too quick of an increase is a good way to get a nagging injury.

allisonmrn

interval training helped me. Then I threw in a 1-2 of 5 mile runs every week to help with endurance. However, my PR is only 24.39 so you may wanna listen to someone with a better time. GOOD LUCK!!

lombrica

Just wanting to watch this thread for my own benefit...